Four years of mainstreaming water sensitive cities: what we learned

Water Sensitive Cities Australia launched in 2021, with a mission to change the way cities are designed, built and managed by valuing water’s contribution to economic development, quality of life and the ecosystems of which they are a part. 

Our Mainstreaming Program – running from 2021 to 2025 – delivered projects, capacity building activities and related initiatives to support wider integration of water sensitive city principles into practice in metropolitan and regional urban contexts. 

A new report captures these activities and their impact:

Highlights included: 

• Piloting updated community water literacy frameworks in Western Australia and Victoria. 
• Diving deep into the issues and opportunities for ensuring all water sources (including stormwater) are ‘on the table’ in considering Melbourne’s growing future water needs. 
• Identifying opportunities to embed water sensitive urban design innovations in infill developments and ensure they are retained through the approval process.
• Identifying urban growth strategies that recognise and protect the critical ecosystem services provided by headwater streams. 
• Continuing to support application and enhancement of existing CRCWSC tools such as the WSC Transitions and INFFEWS tools.
• Developing a framework to improve the capacity of local government councillors and senior leaders to support water sensitive practices in Western Australia. 
• Ensuring WSC champions continue to have access to resources (e.g. 96K Knowledge Portal unique users since 2022), knowledge (e.g. > 500 webinar participants) and training (e.g. 3 training courses) needed for wider application of WSC principles and approaches.

Delivering the Mainstreaming Program provided useful insights and learnings for the WSCA team:

1. A smaller number of larger-scale projects enabled deeper impact by concentrating resources and attention on fewer, high-value initiatives that could demonstrate measurable outcomes.
2. Projects that addressed common challenges across jurisdictions allowed learnings and tools to be adapted and adopted more broadly. 
3. Strong cross-sectoral connections helped amplify reach, align efforts and embed WSC practices into broader industry frameworks.
4. Projects built on a strong foundation of knowledge, expertise and relationships. 

“We are grateful for the sustained support and insights of our foundation partners – the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the Department of Communities, WA Water Corporation, Melbourne Water and South East Water, Water Sensitive SA, and of course, our host organisation, Monash University,” said Chris Manning, Mainstreaming Program Lead. 

“We also benefited from a broader network of collaborators who have contributed to this work, including those from state and local government, utilities, consulting firms, academia and Commonwealth agencies. Their commitment and input were instrumental in evolving the research into impactful practice, driving innovation in urban water management, and fostering the shared ambition of creating water sensitive cities across Australia.”